


Twelve Days Of Castiel

by JokerGothNerd



Series: The Hare [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Birthdays, Bonfire Night, Cas works for Clarks Shoes, Christmas, F/M, Father's Day, Firemen, Fluff with unhappy ending, Hallowe'en, I Tried, I'm so sorry, Inside No.9, M/M, Mother's Day, Muddled up memories, New Years, Photos, Post-Wedding, Pregnant Castiel, Surprise Ending, Teasing, That's right we went through the holidays, That's the point of the title, Time to say goodbye the song, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Cards, ex boyfriends, moving in, roses are red
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-08 15:41:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11649633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JokerGothNerd/pseuds/JokerGothNerd
Summary: The night Castiel met Dean was the start of an era for them. Through the bad times and the good times they were always there for one another. But recently, Cas has been getting everything muddled up. What's really happening?





	Twelve Days Of Castiel

**Author's Note:**

> Just go with it moving around a lot, I promise it'll make sense at the end as to why it's jumping forwards. I'll explain it anyways

“Come on, put it in!”

“I can't. I can't! I can't do it.”

“Don't, you're dropping me!”

“I've got it, I've got it.”

Both of them were laughing as they got into Castiel’s apartment. It was New Year's Eve - actually, more like New Year's Day now - and they'd just been at a party. Christmas decorations were still up, as a man dressed as a fireman almost dropped Castiel, who was an Angel, onto the sofa.

“Is that a proper fireman's lift?” Cas smiled, the other man looking over him.

“I dunno, I'm not a proper fireman,” shocker right there, “Uh, have you got something to drink?”

“Probably, have a look in the fridge. Oh, don't touch anything with Kevin on it! What? He's my flatmate. He labels everything,” he explained, trying not to shout when the 'fireman’ went searching.

“Kevin?”

“Shh, don't say his name, he might appear. He's been in bed since 9 o'clock. He's Chinese, and not celebrating.”

“Oh, well, they have a different New Year to us, don't they?” the other came back with two cans of beer, passing one to Castiel. They were both pretty drunk already, but took a good gulp before continuing.

“Yeah, he won't be out till February.”

“Is that when it is?”

“Yeah.”

There was a brief pause in conversation. This rarely happened for Castiel, bringing someone home with him, I mean. He hadn't been on a date for months, and hadn't been laid for longer. It was odd, but the other man broke the awkwardness.

“I thought you were going home with John Lennon, anyway.”

“He wasn't John Lennon, he was Harry Potter,” Cas argued.

“Mm, Harry Potter, was he?”

“Yeah, well, I think so. It was just a pair of round glasses though, wasn't it?”

“Did he show you his wand?” the fireman giggled like a schoolboy, making an inappropriate joke that he wouldn't get told off for.

“No, because I told him I wanted to see the fireman's pole. I'm-”

“My name's Dean, by the way. If you're interested.” And that was the only thing they really needed to know about each other by this point. Especially as they had both been stupid enough to ignore that key information.

“I'm Castiel, Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

Another moment of silence left them smiling at each other, taking a gulp of beer. Then Dean started to squirm a little, blushing slightly (but that may have been the alcohol).

“Where's your toilet?”

“It's down the corridor,” Cas pointed in the direction, taking Dean's can off him. Instead of just walking around the sofa, Dean tried to get over the back, falling on his face immediately.

“Right. I'm going to go and… unravel my hosepipe,” Dean attempted to laugh off his failure, getting up and stumbling in the vague direction where Cas pointed.

“Oh, ho-ho. Don't have it on sprinkle!” the angel flirted back, messing with the fireman's helmet left beside him.

Then the phone began to ring.

At 3 o'clock in the morning.

“Hello?”

* * *

“ _Hi, sexy_.” It was Dean. Now it was February, Valentine's Day. That had gone quick. “ _Did you get my valentine's card?_ ”

“No, not yet, but the post hasn't been. Did you get mine?” Cas inquired, putting his shoes on at the same time. He had work soon, and was already in uniform - he'd worked for Clarks (a shoe shop) for a few years now.

“ _Yes, probably somewhere in this pile here.”_

“Ha-ha. What time are you picking me up?” Ah yes, they were having a meal tonight in celebration of their love for each other. Why you had to love each other on one day of the year more than the rest is beyond me.

“ _Seven-ish? Do you want sex then meal or meal then sex?”_

“How about sex, meal, sex?” he pushed his luck a little asking that, not entirely sure it would be possible. He stopped in front of the mirror, hanging on the wall, smiling, and looking forward to what the night would hold. He'd always hated Valentine's Day - or 'Forever Alone Day' as coined a few years ago whilst emptying a bottle of vodka - but this year was going to be great. 

“ _That depends, is The Grudge going to be in?”_ And that was why. Cas sighed, staring at a small statue of a hare which sat underneath the mirror. 

“Er, I'm not sure. I'll get back to you with that information.”

“ _Is he there?”_

“Yep.”

“ _Alright, I'll call you later.”_

“Bye-bye. Hey, Kevin,” Castiel out the phone down, finally addressing his flatmate who was stood a few metres away, staring into a textbook.

“Good morning,” Kevin replied without looking up from his book, but still taking a sip of his coffee.

“What have you got on today?”

“I have a seminar this morning and another seminar this afternoon,” he had a lot on his plate, considering Kevin wasn't much younger than Castiel. At least one was trying to get a good job. And it wasn't Castiel.

“More maths?”

“Continuous quantity, yes.” Continuous quantity is a great thing to look up on Google if you're too tired and can't sleep. Because you can't get a straight (like many of us, haha) answer.

“Oh. Sounds complicated,” he acknowledged the thought.

“Not necessarily,” oh fuck no. Not again. How was it that Cas managed to get stuck in Kevin's explanations that he didn't give a shit about? “Well, it depends on your approach to measurable magnitudes.”

“Right.”

“Like you have been going out with Dean for 13 months...”

“Mm…” Castiel was at least pretending to listen to his flatmate as he retrieved the mail and went through it. Hopefully he’d find Dean's card.

“Which is one year and one month. Now, this is referred to as a portable vector..."

“Oh, my God, how weird…” Cas uttered, holding up a card he'd just opened. He'd assumed it was the one from Dean, but it wasn't.

“Well, not really, it's number theory,” Kevin continued, not understanding the turn in conversation.

“No, I've been sent a valentine's card from my ex-boyfriend.”

“Well, maybe he still likes you?” he reasoned. There was many different solutions for this, right? Yep. Not creepy at all.

“I haven't seen him since I was 12, I barely remember him,” Castiel passed the card over to Kevin, letting him read it.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, pornhub is down, your dad's Facebook will do.”

"His sense of humour hasn't changed much.  
I wonder how he got my address?” That was the biggest question. And that's when Cas started jumping to conclusions, i.e. he had a stalker.

“Right, I need to go to my seminar. I won't be back until 7:30 if you want to have sex with Dean.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Cas spoke, thinking he'd never be able to look Kevin in the eye again, as he left.

* * *

“Do you remember your teddy, Castiel? I'll bring it along next time,” Cas’ mother (Rowena) held up an old photo of him, from when he was three, “Oh, he had a lovely peachy bottom, Dean. Look at that.”

“His lovely peachy bottom,” Dean teased.

Rowena had come round for some reason - Castiel couldn't remember - and was going through all the photos she could find of her son, with the specific purpose of making fun of him.

“Mum, stop now. You're embarrassing Dean,” Cas reasoned, though it was obvious it wasn't what she was doing.

“No, love, I'm embarrassing you! Right, well, shall I be Mother?” Rowena spoke, putting down that picture, promptly reaching for her tea.

“Yes, why not. It is Mother's Day.” That was it! It was Mother's Day, that's why Rowena was at Cas’ apartment. And later she was going to his older brother, Gabriel's.

“Who's that?”

Dean had picked up a picture of a 12, maybe 13, year old boy who was posing for a school photo. But it wasn't Castiel. Or his brother, Gabriel. Perhaps it was another relation?

“Yes, that, that was Castiel's first boyfriend.  
Such a shame he-he died when he was just 16,” she could barely look at either one of them. It was clearly a heartbreaking memory.

“Did he?” Cas was quick to ask. Because this was the ex boyfriend that sent him a Valentine's day card a month or two ago (you decide if you want it to be March or May, UK/USA). So it was impossible for him to get a card if he was dead. Right? Maybe it was some elaborate prank...

“Yes! He got… uu-ee-ee-a,” Rowena tried to carefully say leukaemia, but it looked stranger than ever instead, “He's got a memory like a sieve, but he's done well with you, Dean. You're smashing, though you could do with getting a haircut.”

“Mum!” Castiel couldn't believe this.

“So when are you going to marry him?”

“Oh, my God.” It was getting worse. She did this with previous boyfriends too, I would like to point out. It made Cas cringe every time.

“Well, you've been courting for two years. I was married with a son by then,” Rowena explained her side of the 'argument’. Maybe disagreement was a better word?

“Yeah, so we're not all like you. I have my career to think about,” he nearly yelled through gritted teeth.

She had to do this in front of Dean, didn't she?

“Career? Measuring feet in Clarks is hardly a career, Castiel,” Rowena actually had the nerve to laugh over it. At least he was earning a living.

“Thank you very much, Mum.”

“All I'm saying is your father would like to walk you down the aisle... while he still can…” she muttered.

Chuck, Cas’ father, had dementia. And it was slowly killing his memories. They didn't like talking about it.

“Would anybody like a biscuit?” Dean had noticed an awkward atmosphere, and was dying to get out of there immediately.

“Yes, please.”

“No, thanks.”

That boy practically ran out of that kitchen. Truth be told, Castiel would love to have proposed, but it was too early on. Two years wasn't much anymore. And he wondered if Dean feared commitment a bit. It took long enough for him to say 'I love you’ back. And all Rowena was doing was showing her youngest son up.

“Mum, just stop it, alright!” Cas warned her once Dean was out of earshot.

“Look, there's nothing wrong with getting married,” ‘yes there fucking is’ is what Cas wanted to say, but refrained in order to shield his dignity. Or what was left of it after the photos earlier.

“Sh, sh!”

“Your generation seems to think it's old-fashioned. It's not. It's a commitment!”

“We don't even live together yet,” Cas was struggling to keep his temper under control. Hulk would come out any second.

“Exactly! That would be a start.”

Unfortunately, she had a point. But Cas wasn't going to back down that easily. Especially as Dean might be back any moment.

“Look, it's not going to happen, so stop going on about it, okay? I don't even know if Dean's-”

“Really Castiel?”

* * *

“Where shall I put my CDs?”

Dean was moving into Castiel's apartment now, even though it felt as though they'd only just started talking about it. They were both surrounded by dozens of cardboard boxes, which were full to the brim with his boyfriend's belongings. Cas had no fucking clue as to where it was going to go.

“Er, here?” Cas pointed to a slightly emptier spot next to a wall, “So much stuff.”

“Yeah, there's plenty more. You're not regretting it, are you?” Dean's voice went from playful to fearful in 0.23581 seconds flat.

“No!”

“Sure?”

“Kevin's moved out now, so someone's gotta pay the rent,” Castiel snickered, giving his boyfriend a gentle punch in the arm to get the message of 'I’m joking’ across.

“Har, har, har.” Oh yeah, he got the message.

They couldn't unpack forever though, so it was decided that Dean would go and pick-up Chinese takeout, whilst Cas cleared a bit of space for them to sit and eat it. Preferably in front of the telly.

“Don't be long. I've got a surprise for you when you get back,” he shouted down the hall, sulking a little as the door closed.

Cas was happy that Dean was moving in, it was a step closer to them being a proper couple. Hopefully, if everything went to plan, Castiel was going to propose to Dean tonight - he'd hidden the ring in his socks draw.

This wasn't the surprise, however.

The surprise was the fact that Cas had recently bought some lingerie. Anyway, now all he had to do was attempt to make it a bit romantic, i.e. music (although, he could have made more of an effort).

The stereo was free of clutter, so Cas grabbed whatever was on top, pushing it into play. The first thing to come on was Time To Say Goodbye. Good song. Certainly nothing that was his.

“Shit!” an egg crashed against the wall.

Followed by a few more.

“Dean? Dean, what are you doing? This isn't funny.”

He walked in the direction of where they were being flung from. Just to add to the tension, the lights flickered a tad. Until he got to the shoe closet. There was a noise from within. He couldn't make it out. And so, Castiel opened it. There was a man. Who he'd never seen before. In a coat. Who looked like he'd just been in a heavy downpour of rain.

“I'm sorry!” the purple coated man ran towards Cas, who could do very little in his state of shock.

“What? What? No!”

* * *

“Oh! Just a bad dream. Thank fuck.”

Cas was lying on his side, Dean next to him, as the alarm went off. Gently, he moved to turn it off, noticing the photo from their wedding day (a year ago now) kept beside it. It felt like only yesterday, when Dean moved in. That was 3 and a half years back, after they'd been dating for 2 years.

“Come on, darling. You're going to be late for work,” Cas gave his husband a nudge.

“It's a bank holiday, isn't it?” Dean mumbled, not caring to move from the comfortable position he resided in - face smashed into the pillow.

“Oh, yeah. But I'll have a cup of tea now you're up.”

“Okay."

“What shall we do today?” Castiel was more speaking to his stomach, as it held an eight month old child within.

* * *

“Insert groove dowel pins into B1 and B2,” Castiel read from the instruction manual.

They'd decided it was time to build the cot for their baby now. Or at least Dean was building it. He'd said that Cas shouldn't be getting stressed over anything. After the previous day of trying to assemble it, Dean was determined to get it right.

“I thought- dunno what they are,” and he was slowly losing motivation.

“They look like that,” Cas turned the booklet towards him, pointing at something before describing it, “They look like little maggots.”

Five more minutes later, it was  a dealt with, “Right, erm okay. And then what?”

“Align sliding panel AB alongside bar EF.”

“We've already done that.”

“Insert rod into top pole until base connects?” Cas hoped he was at the right part now.

“Isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place?” Dean tried and failed to get a laugh out of his husband, instead just making Cas cry. A hug was sure to sort this out, “Oh, hey, hey, don't cry. What are you worried about?”

His hormones were acting up again, making Castiel just lose it. Again.

“I don't know, I just- I don't want the baby to spoil everything,” he sniffled, wiping his nose with a sleeve.

“Well, it's not going to do that. How would it do that?” Famous last words.

* * *

She wasn't shutting up. Their eight month old daughter, Angelica, was wailing at 2am. Both Dean and Cas were trying to leave her alone, but no one could withstand a screaming child for so long. Dean cracked fairly quickly, running off to quieten her down. The second he was out that door, Cas pulled out a Father's day card, writing it from Angie to Dean. It'd be his first one too.

“ _Hey, hey, hey, hey. Shh, shh, shh, what's this noise? Shh, shh, what's all this noise? Do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do,_ ” Dean started to sing to their daughter, as Castiel could hear via the baby monitor less than a metre away. Slowly, Angelica was becoming quieter.

“ _Come on, little darling, let's get you out of there.”_ Hold it.

That wasn't Dean's voice.

And no one else lived in the flat.

Cas stopped.

Then he ran faster than he ever thought he would.

“Angelica! Angelica. Angie?” She wasn't there. His baby girl wasn't there. She was gone. And Dean wasn't there either. “Dean! Dean! Someone's taken Angie!”

“What are you doing?” Dean rushed in, rocking Angelica in his arms, who was more curious now, as to why her daddy was panicking.

“Wha-? I heard somebody talking.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it was me. I know I'm trying to get her to sleep,” Dean whispered, urging Castiel to do the same.

“It wasn't you,” never had anyone sounded so sure of something that clearly couldn’t have been there. It was impossible. Maybe he was going mad.

“Shh, calm down, calm down. You'll set her off again. Hey, come on. Hey, oh, there we go. Alright? You're just overtired. Come with me.”

Dean took Cas’ hand, pulling him back to bed, with their child on his other arm. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

“Open your eyes!”

“Surprise!”

“One big puff.”

“Happy birthday!”

It was his 29th birthday, and Cas had just blown out the candles on his birthday cake. All of his family and friends (except two) were there, most holding champagne flutes.

“Ah, thank you!” Cas blushed a little, then everyone got in with their conversations. But his father was in the corner, so he had to go a talk, “Oh my God. Hi, Dad!”

Rowena appeared at his side quickly, as Chuck stayed still and silent. Like he always was. It was such a shame.

“Oh, he's been so excited all week, haven't you, Chuck? Well, he- he did know he was coming, but I think it's gone again. I shouldn't have brought him, really,” she got quieter, as the self-loathing went on.

“No, I'm glad he's here,” he tried to make it up to her, but it didn't work.

“He wouldn't want you to remember him like this.”

Next was Charlie, Cas’ best friend who’d worked at Clarks with him since the start. He could never wish for a better friend.

“Happy birthday, dear. Bet you can't guess what these are,” she handed his a large, paper covered box, and Castiel knew exactly what they were.

“But they didn't have them in my size!”

“Well, someone rang Ipswich and got them DHL'd.”

“Oh, my God, you shouldn't have! Ah, thank you so much!” He’d been trying to get hold of a pair of these for a year now. Over the box, he gave her a hug, not squishing the box.

“Two words - staff discount,” Charlie laughed. Maybe she should walk away from the booze at this rate.

“Where's Dean?” Cas finally asked. He hadn't seen him, and it was his birthday after all. You'd think his husband would bother to show.

“I don't know, actually.”

“Mum, where's Dean?” he was getting annoyed now.

“I'm not sure, he said he'd be here.” Great. He was going to fucking kill that husband of his. Then again, what if he'd found something better to do?

“Hi, darling, happy birthday!” Speak of the devil, Dean waltzed through the door as though he wasn't late. And he'd brought a friend.

“Hi, Anna,” Cas had a go at being nice. He hated the bitch, really.

“Happy birthday, Cas. You look fab,” look at her, all sweet, and pretty and totally Dean's type. If Cas lost his husband, he could guarantee it would be to that harpy. Guarantee.

“I don't, but thanks anyway.”

“No, I'm sure you've lost a bit. Yeah, turn round,” the party had fallen silent at this point, watching Castiel have the mick taken out of him, twirling around for Anna’s amusement, “Yeah, you definitely have.”

“It's only baby fat, it'll be gone soon enough,” Rowena interrupted, defending her son.

“Well, she's hardly a baby, she's two now. Where is she?” Dean then managed to ruin the defence of Rowena, but moving it forward instead.

“She's just having a nap, how was your work do?”

“We, well, we popped our heads in, didn't we? Yeah. Just to schmooze a few clients. Hi, Charlie,” he took notice of Charlie, literally as she downed the contents of her glass, looking around for more if she was going to survive this party.

“Hi, Dean.”

“This is Anna. She's just started under me."

“Mm, has she?” Charlie didn't like Anna either then, as the look and the tone of disapproval ran through her. And the innuendo.

“I'll just get some drinks,” yet again, Dean snaked his way out of another conversation he wasn't getting in the middle of.

“Right then, come on, Castiel. It's THAT time,” Rowena rushed round with her scarf to tie around his head as a mask type thing.

“No, Mum, please,” Castiel begged, yet he knew nothing would stop this.

“No, no, it's tradition,” then she went on to explain the game, “Every birthday since he was six, we've played blind man's buff. Though last year it was more blind drunk buff. Now, the first person you catch can give you your main present. Now, you come and spin him, Charlie.”

“Oh, my pleasure. One, two, three and off you go!” Charlie stopped spinning him after three, running away with everyone else to different spots of the apartment.

Cas reached out as far as possible, only able to feel his way around. Which only became a problem when he'd forgotten his dad was still stood in a corner. And then Cas grabbed him, earning a shriek. “Dad, sorry, sorry, sorry! Sorry, sorry.”

After apologising, he turned and found his way through the corridor to where Castiel thought he could hear something. The closer he got, the more tempting it was to take off the blindfold. Then Cas did. He was stood at his and Dean's bedroom door. And all he could hear was the creaking of the bed springs. You'd open the door to, wouldn't you?

* * *

“I can't get the case to close. You're going to have to take something out.”

Dean was almost sat on top of a suitcase in their bed, trying desperately to close it, resulting in a squeaking noise from the bed. They were going on holiday, and it was a nightmare to pack for.

“Look, you don't need these shoes, do you?” he held out a pair that were too familiar.

“No, they're my birthday shoes Charlie got me last year. I've barely worn those,” Cas reasoned, using puppy eyes to get his own way.

“Well, we can't take all of these toys then,” the toys that were taking up most of the space in the suitcase.

“No, no, she won't sleep without them.”

“Well, just make her choose one. You're too soft on her,” Dean actually looked upset when he said this. It was as though his husband cared far more for their daughter than him.

“It's her holiday too!”

“It wasn't meant to be. It was supposed to be just me and you. A chance to get away from this miserable flat for a while.”

“Yes, well, I'm very sorry that my dad died.  
I couldn't get my mum to take her now, could I? That's just life, Dean,” he shouted, not loud enough for Angelica to hear though. Chuck had passed away recently. It was all very sudden, and Rowena had said she could still look after Angie, but Cas didn't want to be a burden.

“Shit, sorry Cas. I just… it'd have been nice to get away, just the two of us for a bit, you know? Like we used to?” Dean stood up to hug Castiel, an apology that was well deserved. Until he moved away to help deal with the luggage situation.

“There's always next year, love. It's okay. But you're right, I'm too soft. I don't need those shoes, and _some_ of those toys can come out…”

* * *

“What day is it today, Angie?” Castiel asked, holding up a video camera.

“The first of September,” Angelica muttered, not sounding particularly pleased about this whole fiasco.   


“And what's happening today?”

“I've got school.” He turned the camera off once he'd got this little bit. Castiel knew she'd grown up so fast, so he wanted to remember this moment for as long as possibly. It felt like only last week, he'd been rocking her in her cot.

“Right. Come on then. Grandma's going to walk you down,” Rowena was stood next to her granddaughter, as she'd offered to take her to school while Dean was away on a business trip for a couple of days.   


“I want you to take me,” his daughter complained. And quite rightly too.   


“Erm, I can't, darling, Daddy's got to work. But I'll be there when you finish, okay?” he took her hand, promising to be there, and hoping he didn't cry, “You are going to have a brilliant day. I am so, so proud of you.”

His mother had spotted that Castiel was going to lose it at any moment, so got Angelica out so she didn't her her dad breakdown in tears.   


“Now, come on, don't let us be late for our first day. You're going to show me the way. Now, you, come on, then let's go and find this lovely new school. This is going to be fun.”

They closed the door behind them, and the whole apartment was so quiet. It hadn't been like this since… since… well, forever ago. It had been so long, that Cas was so lost. He just sat down and released the tears that had been threatening to spill.   


“Come on, Cas, don't upset yourself.”

It was his dad, Chuck, talking to him - or rather, a hallucination. He couldn't come back from the dead. Not in this universe.   


“I just didn't- I didn't think it would turn out like this.”   


“Well, I never thought I'd end up walking into the garden centre and pissing on the hydrangeas, but there you go,” Chuck tried to make light of the situation, but it didn't help. Not one bit.   


“But you weren't well, it wasn't your fault.”   


“And this isn't yours, darling boy.”   


“Isn't it? Dean's left me, Angie's left me,” Cas obviously didn't realise that them leaving was his fault, as he had no evidence of reasoning that it was.   


“Only till 3 o'clock. And Dean will be back in a few days,” he reminded Cas, after all, it wasn't forever. It would all be okay.   


“I know but I'm I'm 32, lonely, getting everything muddled up and working in a shoe shop with my nerd best friend. It's hardly the Cinderella story, is it?” Castiel sobbed into a cushion once he'd had a small rant. In a way, he needed this. Every once in awhile, everyone needs a good cry, because then nothing is bottled up forever, and it doesn't all come out in one. If you understand me, that is.

“Hey, come on, enough of that nonsense. It's Angelica's first day at school. This is meant to be a happy memory.”

“I'm sorry, Dad, it just doesn't feel like that.”

* * *

The doorbell rang.

“Charlie, can you get that?” Cas yelled through the apartment.

It was Hallowe'en, so him and Charlie were going out for the night, whilst Gabriel took Angie trick-or-treating. Which was incredible, because no one really trusted Gabe not to fill her with sugar. Which wasn't impossible considering the holiday’s purpose for small children.

“I can't, I'm putting my contacts in!” Charlie screeched back.

“Hello?” Cas reached the buzzer-box thing that he could let people into the building from (don't know what it's called, if you couldn't tell).

“ _It's Gabe, can you buzz me in?_ ”

“And you're late,” he calmly spoke, although fury was in there somewhere.

“ _Thanks_ .”

“Come on, Charlie. Come on, Gabriel's arrived.

“What'd you think?”

Charlie was wearing what looked to be a suit, with a bowtie, and without a blazer. She'd painted her face white, then done an Eddie Munster (look it up) style hair, but in a pony tail. She also had red contacts in, and lots of eyeliner. Castiel knew full well what she was supposed to be, however it didn't stop the teasing.

“Are those the contacts or just your eyes?” he joked.

“Contacts, and you know it,” Charlie growled back, not having time for his little games.

“It's good. What are you, a zombie waiter?”

“Oh, piss off, Cas, I'm meant to be a vampire!” but one look in the mirror changed all that, “Right, well, I'm turning it into a werewolf. I've got teeth here somewhere. So, you're meeting Dean there?” she reached into her makeup kit, finding the eye pencil to draw whiskers on. All she had to do was find the teeth after this.

“Yeah, he’s trying to help Sam find someone, so he is helping him with his costume. And Dean is apparently going to have an alien bursting out of his chest - according to his brother. I'm surprised he's not going as Batman,” Castiel trailed off, sounding bored as fuck, but then again, he was most of the time.

“And did you just say you're going as yourself?” Charlie finally got him back with this remark. Cas was dressed as the devil, rather than the angel he was named after. It was ironic. In some way. Probably.

“Har, har, har.”

As they giggled over costumes, he heard the door open and close, Gabriel presumably, but kept facing Charlie.

“Angie's in her bedroom. You’ve got some explaining to do,” Castiel warned, still pissed over how late his brother was. Gabriel ran past without a word, to Angie's room door closing behind him.

“Do I look hairy enough?” Charlie turned to look at Cas for the first time since she'd altered her makeup.

“You look like Tony the Tiger,” he sniggered a little, taking the eye pencil from her hand (Tony the Tiger is the tiger that is on Frosties cereal boxes), “Come here. I'll turn it into a cobweb. Do you remember when I first moved in here ten years ago?”

“Uh-huh,” was all Charlie could fathom without moving too much.

“And I was living with that, what was his name... Kevin?” Cas remembered it like it was yesterday. Kevin was such an odd one, but interesting to live with. Never again though.

“Oh, my God, The Grudge! That would have been a good one,” she had to stop and laugh at that, because Charlie and Kevin never really got on very well. They barely managed the small talk.

“Do you remember we said that if neither of us met someone in ten years, we'd get married to each other?”

“Why, you ditching Dean?” she was horrified at the thought. Unlike what you'd think, they got on well enough, and Cas had never been happier with Dean.

“No, I was thinking, you know, it's funny how things turn out,” Cas out down the pencil, letting her look at his handiwork in the mirror. It was quite good, to say the least.

A knock on the door signalled only one thing on this night: “Trick or treaters!”

“Go on, give 'em a scare,” Charlie smiled, knowing this was his favourite part of the holiday.

But when he opened the door, “You could have told me the lift was broken. I'm knackered!” It was Gabriel… but… he came in… and was with Angie… but he wasn't. So… who was? Holy fuck!

“Angelica? Angelica!” Cas scampered like a gazelle being chased by a lion to her room.

There was someone holding Angelica. That man. In the purple waterproof coat. Again. Wait. Who the fuck…?

“I've got her, I've got her!”

* * *

Castiel nearly took the door off the hinges when he ran in with Angelica by his side.

“Here you go, darling. Here. Keep it there. Okay, it's going to sting a little bit, but just keep it under there,” he ran the cold tap and got her hand under.

It was bonfire night, about 9pm, and Cas had taken Angie to see the fireworks whilst Dean stayed at home, 'holding down the fort’ (actually, a new episode of Dr. Sexy M.D was on, and Dean had made it up to Cas anyway…).

“What happened?” Dean was panicking too now, immediately thinking of worst case scenario - that her hand had been cut off. Cas did always say he watched too many horror films for his own good.

“Angie's had an accident. She's-she's alright, but she's burnt her hand on a sparkler.”

“Ah, okay, okay,” however, when Dean went to look, there was no burn marks, “Cas, there's not a mark on her. Look,” he even pointed to her hand.

“But no, she was crying!” Castiel was hyperventilating now. He could've sworn Angelica had.

“Well, you probably frightened her. Angie, go and watch the fireworks. You can see them out of your window.”

Once she'd left the room in search of a decent view of the display. The poor girl had stopped crying by now, and was just puzzled as to what the hell her dad was doing. Back in the kitchen, they were discussing it.

“I saw her pick up a sparkler, she burnt her hand. I saw it.”

“But she can't have. There's nothing wrong with her. You did, when you were her age. Burnt right through your gloves, you told me,” Dean reasoned, watching as his husband took off his glove to look at the huge scar along his palm.

“I don't know, what's wrong with me, Dean? I'm getting everything jumbled up.”

* * *

“Well, put your hat on then.”

“What?”

Cas was sat at the head of the table, Dean walking around behind him. Wait… they were all there. Chuck, Rowena, Kevin and Charlie. But… why? Everything was muddled up, switched around, Castiel didn't understand it. They were all wearing Christmas hats, and a Christmas lunch was out on the table. It was Rowena complaining about him not wearing a hat. So much so, that she'd reached around and put one on him as he was lost in thought. “That's better.”

“Right, why are Christmas trees so bad at sewing? They always drop their needles."

“Terrible,” Castiel's father acknowledged. But… didn't he pass away? A few years ago, yes he did. Because they had to take Angie on a holiday, as Rowena couldn't look after her.

“Well, you never did have a sense of humour, did you, Chuck?” his mother’s Scottish accent giggled a little.

“Oh, I don't know, I married you, didn't I?”

He gathered the courage to ask at this point,  “Dad, are you alright?” It's just that Cas remembered Chuck being very ill, and passing away. How was he here?

“Yeah, yeah, I'm tickety-boo. I had to be here for this, didn't I? I wouldn't have missed it for the world,” it was the most Castiel had heard his father say in years. Maybe he'd gotten better?

“Well done on all this, it looks gorgeous. Just like you,” his husband appeared at his side, with a kiss and a smile.

“Where's Angie?” Castiel had realised she was the only person missing from the table. He was still confused, so it didn't help his mood.

“Er, she's just getting her outfit on for the Nativity. Our little angel,” Dean sat down at the opposite end of the table, facing Castiel.

“I think it's time for the present!”

“Oh! No, I don't want the present,” despite not sounding too sure.

What Cas wanted was to know what was going on. Why was everything messed around so much? It felt like his life was skipping through, just looking at the highlights.

“This is from all of us. We all contributed. I hope you like it,” Rowena produced a box out of nowhere, placing it in front of him.

Inside the box, was a large book. It was a photo album, of Castiel. It began with his baby pictures, he smiled at each one, “Oh, no. Is that me?”

“Yes!”

A few pages along was the day Angie was brought home for the first time. She was in her cot. “Oh, gosh! The cot! Do you remember that? We couldn't put it up, could we?” Castiel looked at Dean, grinning like a fool.

“Yeah, it took us three days,” earning a good laugh from all of them.

Next, he fell on the one of him and Charlie, Hallowe’en a few years back. “Ah, look at Tony Tiger!” Charlie piped up, thinking about the old days.

It was the most wonderful gift Cas had ever received. It was almost indescribable. He couldn’t wish for more. They were his family. It was perfect. For a few moments, at least.

Until… “This is amazing. You've got everything. This is like my whole life is flashing... Oh…” unfortunately, it had clicked for Castiel, “...I think I know what this is now.”

Wheels screeched to a halt.

A crash was made.

There were ambulance sirens.

And Time To Say Goodbye was playing.

“Okay, Fire Brigade. Can you hear me?” a voice could be heard to say. It was a bit distant, but it made sense.

It all flooded back to him. It wasn't just what Cas had said, but it was what his friends and family had also said to him.

_“I don't know what's wrong with me, Dean. I'm getting everything jumbled up.”_

_“He's got a memory like a sieve.”_

_“He wouldn't want you to remember him like this.”_

_“That's just life, Dean.”_

_“This is supposed to be a happy memory.”_

His car had crashed.

Only him and Angelica were in the car.

All the shopping was in the front. Including the eggs, which were now smashed into the windscreen - like earlier, when he thought they were being thrown.

Angie was okay. She was alive because she was in the back.

But Cas wasn't.

He was covered in his own blood from hitting the windscreen and steering wheel.

This was his life flashing before his eyes.

Castiel was dying.

“Angie! Daddy's going now,” Dean shouted behind him. From one of the rooms, Angelica came out, dressed as the angel Gabriel (yes, Gabe was proud). She walked over to hug Cas, one last time.

“Oh, no, I don't want to,” tears had started to fall from Castiel, as he left his family behind. But eventually, he would have to let go of his little girl. It broke his heart.

The last thing Castiel saw from the accident, was another person. Who wore glasses and a purple waterproof coat. The same person Cas kept seeing throughout his memories.

The man was talking to one of the firemen, who were trying to save Cas. “It's my fault. I just stepped out into the road. I wasn't looking. I managed to get the kid out, but I couldn't get to him. I'm sorry.”

“Come on, Angelica,” Dean spoke, their daughter going to stand next to him, “It's time, Castiel.”

Despite the fact he was still crying, Cas smiled, understanding that he had to let go.

“Goodbye, everyone. I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's his life flashing before his life's and his death running through it. The man in the coat was the one who caused the crash that killed Cas. The Inside no.9 episode was better than me writing it.
> 
> Please don't kill me. I hope you like it though.


End file.
